Born in Manchester, Tim Parks grew up in London and studied at Cambridge and Harvard. In 1981 he moved to Italy where he has lived ever since. He is the author of novels, non-fiction and essays, including Europa, Cleaver, A Season with Verona and Teach Us to Sit Still. He has won the Somerset Maugham, Betty Trask and Llewellyn Rhys awards, and been shortlisted for the Booker Prize. He lectures on literary translation in Milan, writes for publications such as the New Yorker and the New York Review of Books, and his many translations from the Italian include works by Moravia, Calvino, Calasso, Tabucchi and Machiavelli.

"A book for our times... A moving, important novel" Irish Independent "The world that Parks evokes is densely textured, a patchwork or memories, desires and declarations that brilliantly captures the complexity of consciousness" Sunday Times "A dashing mixture of thriller, social comedy and dysfunctional family saga... A virtuoso piece, a tour de force, highly enjoyable" Spectator "A grimly affecting novel of adultery and family disintegration... A brilliant, even contentious, novel of bleak humour and undeniable power" Evening Standard "Parks is a master of emotional complexity" Sunday Telegraph